Could This Be Love? Read online

  By Lee Kilraine

  Bringing Delaney Home

  Could This Be Love?

  A Cates Brothers Book

  Lee Kilraine

  LYRICAL SHINE

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  LYRICAL SHINE BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2016 by Lee Kilraine

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Lyrical Shine and Lyrical Shine logo trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

  First Electronic Edition: June 2016

  ISBN: 978-1-6018-3671-7

  ISBN-13: 978-1-60183-672-4

  ISBN-10: 1-60183-672-4

  Table of Contents

  By Lee Kilraine

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Epilogue

  Teaser chapter

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Teaser chapter

  Copyright Page

  To Peter, for everything and for always.

  Acknowledgments

  To my editor, Esi Sogah. Your talent and amazing instincts elevate my writing. Thank you.

  To all at Lyrical Press and Kensington Publishing whose hard work behind the scenes helped make this book shine. Thank you.

  To Laura Bradford. I am grateful for your support, dedication, and all-around awesomeness.

  To my friends, family, and critique partners who read and re-read this book. My thanks to Karen, Allie, Dani, Jenn, and Heatherly.

  To my sister Terri, who went above and beyond. Your time and feedback were invaluable. Thank you.

  To Jenn Hoopes because you make me laugh and help me reach for calm even when crazy is in my face and crossing its eyes trying to get my attention. Thank you and YKYMF.

  To Fletcher, Allie, Dani, and Kent. Your support and encouragement mean everything. I love you guys! You are each my favorite ;)

  Chapter One

  Avery Danford needed some bone marrow.

  Well, she didn’t. Her sister Tansy did. A kidney would have been easier, since she had two. Sperm would have been easier.

  “Why doesn’t she need sperm? Sperm would be a piece of cake. I probably know five guys that would give me sperm today,” Avery said, just barely noticing the woman at the table next to them sputtering on her sip of iced tea and throwing a wild-eyed look her way.

  “Do not use sperm and cake in the same sentence.” Pia Stirling, her best friend and business partner, sat across the linen-draped table from her.

  “Sorry. Is that a rule?” No wonder the woman had given her a look. Avery hoped she didn’t get them kicked out of their favorite Greensboro hangout, The Tea Totaler. The sunlit tea room filled with delicate antiques was such a peaceful place to talk over business. Or problems.

  “It is now. I’m trying to eat here, Avery.” Pia paused, looked down at her dish of tapioca pudding, and then pushed it away with a sigh. “I guess I’m starting my diet today.”

  “I still can’t wrap my head around it. I mean, fever, nausea, headache, fatigue. It all added up to the flu . . . until it didn’t. I’ve never even heard of aplastic anemia.” Avery picked up her fork, pausing to release the tension in her grip before methodically cutting her cupcake into bite-size pieces. “If I hadn’t been sitting next to Tansy when the doctor told her, I’d swear this was a nightmare.”

  “Deep breaths, Av.”

  She ate a piece, putting her fork down to slow herself between bites. “The doctor said the best donors are usually blood relatives.”

  “So, not you. He also told you not all cases of aplastic anemia need the transplant. Let’s think positive. Lots of tests come back negative,” Pia said. “Even biopsies.”

  “I keep telling myself that, but I can’t spend another week sitting around doing nothing.” The muscles in Avery’s jaw were so tense she wouldn’t have been surprised if she needed a tetanus shot to relax them. She started forking up bites of cupcake faster than her taste buds could register them. “I need to find my foster family.”

  “It doesn’t make sense that Tansy wouldn’t have their current address.” Pia added two cubes of sugar to her cup of oolong tea before looking back up at Avery. “The way she tells it, Bob and Michelle doted on her.”

  “They did.” Avery looked down at the lone crumb left on the stark white dessert plate, trying not to think about her childhood. That was baggage she couldn’t afford to unpack right now. Unfortunately, they don’t let you check childhood baggage on arrival to adulthood. Nope, you’ve got to tote that overweight crap around with you for life. “She hasn’t heard from them either since she moved in with me two years ago.”

  “The PI you hired last year was a dead end, so I don’t know what options you have left.” Pia set her tea cup down with a clatter. “If I haven’t told you lately, your family really pisses me off.”

  She wasn’t too thrilled with them herself right now. It made it hard to cling to the dream of a loving family when they up and moved without telling you.

  Pia fidgeted with her napkin, then looked up, her face somber. “I hate this idea, but you could go to the press.”

  “I thought of that too.” Her gut twisted, but the thought of losing Tansy sent fear slicing so sharp and deep in her chest she had trouble getting a full breath. She reached out for her glass of iced tea, hating that her hand shook. “I’m willing to give up my peaceful life if it means helping Tansy.”

  Pia’s gaze focused like a laser beam on the drops of iced tea splashed onto the white table cloth before rising to examine Avery’s face. Their eyes met, and the deepening frown on her face meant they were both thinking about the past.

  “I need another cupcake.” Avery looked around for their waiter.

  “That is not a good sign.” Pia shot her one of her “mama hen” looks. “Find your inner Buddha.”

  “Trust me, my inner Buddha wants a cupcake too.” She knew it was the stress talking, a voice she hadn’t heard from in five years. Holy heck, had her breath just hitched?

  “Hey, we don’t have to go there yet. You said the biopsy results will take at least four days. And Tansy’s boyfriend took her off to the beach for the week, right?” She sipped her tea and looked at Avery over the rim of the delicat
e china cup. “We’ve got time to figure something else out.”

  “Right. We have time.” Avery nodded, able to take a calming breath for the first time all morning. “Let’s go get this audition out of the way.”

  “We can totally cancel the audition.”

  “No. Staying busy will keep me from worrying about Tansy.”

  Pia raised her eyebrows at her.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll still worry, but all the worrying has locked up my brain. I’m hoping a bit of distraction helps.”

  ***

  Two hours later, it was clear to Avery, and probably everyone else, distraction wasn’t helping at all. Worry and stress had her body tense like a rubber band stretched taut and ready to snap. A headache sliced sharply behind her eyes. She pinned a stiff smile on her face and focused on work anyway. They were an hour into an open audition for the next animal spokesmodel for a new all-natural floor cleaner.

  “Thank you, Ms. Welks. Mr. Meow isn’t right for—”

  “Meeooow,” Ms. Welks said.

  “Excuse me?” Avery kept a straight face, ignoring the muffled cough next to her. She knew what Pia was thinking: crazy cat lady.

  “Meeooow. It’s Mr. Meeooow, with two e’s and three o’s. He’s just that handsome.”

  Avery smiled at the woman and her cat. They could be perfect clients: a well-trained animal and an owner who loved it. “He is a handsome cat, and very photogenic. Unfortunately, he isn’t right for this job, but we’d like to keep his headshot on file and work with Mr. Meeooow in the future.”

  “That would be fine.” Ms. Welks nodded and lovingly gathered Mr. Meeooow into her arms. “If you could make a note in his file, Mr. Meeooow doesn’t work on Tuesdays as that’s the day he sees his therapist. Not Fridays either, because he refuses to give up his art and music lessons. Thank you.”

  Avery sighed as she watched the crazy cat lady wander out the door. She and Pia sat at a long folding table in the rented old barn they used for an office and studio. “Remind me again why I didn’t cancel this audition.”

  “Because you thought staying busy would keep you from worrying about Tansy.”

  “Right. Well, it’s not working. Next time I have a stupid idea, just tell me, okay?” She huffed out a breath. “Next applicant, please!”

  “Will do.” Pia’s attention moved to the next applicant. “But I have to say, it’s not looking so stupid from this angle. Wowza, what a face. Meeooow.”

  Avery turned to look, her gaze held prisoner by the face in front of her. “It’s the eyes. Look at those eyes.”

  “Oh, I am.”

  “They’re begging me. Begging me, I tell you.”

  “I do like when men beg.” Pia’s voice had down-shifted into her husky hot-man-walking tone.

  “What? Oh. No, I wasn’t talking about him. The pig.”

  “Hey, he might be a very sweet Southern boy.”

  “No. The pig standing next to your sweet Southern boy. Look at the pig’s face.”

  “Oh. I had no idea a pig could look so sad.” Pia shook her head. “You’re right. He is begging you. What’s he begging you for?”

  “Help.” Occasionally they’d get an actor thinking they’d get “discovered” through a commercial. It never worked out well for the animal. Darn it, she may not have figured out a way to help her sister yet, but she could help this poor pig.

  “Mr. Johnson, how old is”—she looked down at the top sheet of paper in the stack—“Stanley?”

  “He’s six months old. He just looks young because he’s a teacup pig.”

  “There is no such thing as a teacup pig.” Avery stood up and walked the ten feet toward them, scooping up the trembling pig and soothing him with a gentle rub of his soft pink skin. “Only abused and starved potbelly pigs. Stanley will probably end up around two hundred or three hundred pounds. Just as an FYI, advertising has shied away from using pigs once the abuse was uncovered.”

  “What? I just shelled out over a thousand bucks for him yesterday.” He wasn’t nearly as good looking with his nostrils flaring and eyes bulging. “What the hell am I going to do with a two-hundred-pound pig?”

  She turned an arched look at Pia, before narrowing her eyes, her target back in her sights.

  “If you sign a waiver relinquishing all ownership and responsibility for Stanley, we’ll find a rescue home for him. This micro-pig scam is cruel and costly. You’ll also need to write a check to cover his room and board.”

  “I’d rather sell him to some other poor shmuck and get my money back.”

  “It’s like you aren’t even listening.” Reminding herself it was wrong to hit people, she ran a hand down the pig’s back. “Huh, I think I can feel his spine and ribs. I wonder if we need to involve the police on animal cruelty charges.”

  The gorgeous actor went pale under his perfect tan face. His eyes shifted from the pig to Avery. “I’ll sign the waiver. And write the check. I don’t know what kind of two-bit operation you’re running, but this feels like a scam right here.”

  She didn’t have patience for people who mistreated animals on a good day. Today was not a good day. Today, she was Dirty Harry. She stepped toward the actor, well into his space. “You just got yourself on the watch list of the Alliance for Safe, Sanitary, Humane Animal Treatment, buddy.”

  Pia pulled him by the sleeve over to the table. “You should sign your check and the waiver and get out, unless you’re trying to move up to the blackballed list.”

  Mr. Johnson signed like he was racing a ticking bomb and left without even a backward glance for poor Stanley the pig. Aargh. Why did actors make her want to scream?

  She stalked over to the table and sat down, petting the napping pig in her arms. This time, Stanley’s little warm body soothed her. “Sorry about that, everyone. Let’s take a five-minute break.”

  “You totally made that last part up.” Pia grinned over at her. “You put him on the A.S.S.H.A.T. list. Nice.”

  Stanley snuffled against the palm of her hand with his little piggy snout. “No. He did that all by himself, didn’t he, Stanley?”

  “You did good, Av.” Pia picked the clipboard up from the table. “You doing okay? All we’ve got left are Wally the Wonder Dog, Mr. Sprinkles the dachshund, and Pudding Head the counting mule.”

  Three hoof clicks sounded from the nearby stall.

  “Thank you, Pudding Head! Yep, I’m good. Let’s wrap this up.” Avery settled Stanley in a small pile of straw nearby, and they got back to work. They processed the last three animals in less than thirty minutes and sent them on their way.

  They probably hadn’t found the spokes-animal they were looking for, but they did have a few exciting prospects for new clients.

  Pia relaxed back in her chair with a supermarket tabloid while Avery called the Hog Heaven Pig Sanctuary only a few hours away. During the call, Stanley woke up and began playing with the straw, tossing it the air with his snout so it rained down on his head. He turned himself into a little piggy scarecrow before running across the barn, the straw flying behind him.

  She smiled as she ended the call. “One problem solved, one to go. We found a home for Stanley.”

  “Awesome. If only finding your family were as easy.” Pia smacked the tabloid in her hand down onto the edge of the table. “A few years ago they wouldn’t leave you alone. Michelle called like clockwork every time your face was splashed across the tabloids.”

  They both stared down at the tabloid in Pia’s hands.

  “Pia, you’re a genius.”

  “What? No. Avery, remember when you told me the next time you have a stupid idea, tell you?”

  “Look, I know it’s crazy pants, but like you said, what options are left?”

  “Agreed, but there are risks for you.”

  “Pia, I was five when my parents died and it still hurts as if it happened yesterday. I don’t ever want to feel that pain again. Or that alone. Tansy and I may not be sisters by birth, but I’ve loved her since the day my fo
ster parents brought me home—” Panic tightened its grip on her throat, choking off her sentence.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. If Tansy were my sister, I’d be doing the same thing.” Pia sighed and sat back, the tabloid crinkling in her hands. “I’ll sit here quietly and read while you think of an idea.”

  She understood why Pia worried. “I don’t have to out myself. I look different than I did five years ago. All I need is one photo. That’s it. No one will recognize me except my family. Michelle and Bob will see me, and they’ll call—”

  “Just like they used to.” Pia frowned.

  “That’s the plan. We’ll be able to see if any of Tansy’s siblings are a good donor match.” Avery sighed as the weight in her chest lightened, relieved to have a possible solution to her misplaced family. “All I need to do is get on the cover. You know, have my fifteen minutes of fame—”

  “You had five years,” Pia said, without looking up from the tabloid. “Whoa, Sijan Cates is trying to hide from another scandal out in L.A. a few hours away. Such a naughty, naughty man.”

  “I can’t have Elvis’s baby, and where are the alien abductors when you need them? Besides, it would take nine months to produce a three-headed alien baby anyway.” Avery drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “Wait. Who did you say is nearby?”

  Holding up the front page of The Tattler for Avery to see, Pia pointed to a devilishly good-looking man, stabbing his rippled six-pack with her plum-painted nail. “That drool-worthy man right there. Sijan Cates.”

  “Sigh-juhn Cates? Great! Who is he?”

  Pia rolled her eyes. “Only the hottest movie actor for the last five years. In fact, I think he hit Hollywood just as we hightailed it out of there. He was up for the best actor Oscar last year,” Pia said. “You know, when you left Hollywood, you didn’t have to become anti-Hollywood.”